First thing's first... I DO NOT OWN JIMMY NEUTRON OR ANY RELATED CHARACTERS. I just pretend to. XP

Echoes

By: CraazyOne

Jimmy Neutron had made a lot of mistakes in his life. Tinkering with science always had its risks, after all. But now he was staring at the biggest mistake of his life.

The oppressive black atmosphere pressed down on him as if it had real physical weight, stifling him in ruthless darkness that wouldn't be relieved by the cold starlight. It was so dark that it was hard to even see the grotesque alien faces in the night, though their cruel laughter rang out clear in the quiet, echoing in his very soul. But more than anything, another voice kept repeating itself in his head, running through his mind relentlessly, as if hearing the words once hadn't been painful enough.

What did you do?! This is all your fault!

Cindy Vortex yelled at him a lot, but when she'd screamed those words at him, the desperation in her voice sent a shockwave of horror through him. This time it was real. The countless times he'd endangered lives or sent his city on a course of destruction had all turned out in the end. He was a genius, and his brainpower had never failed him before. He always invented a way out of any mess he created.

Not this time.

All your fault.

He could see Carl enveloped in the shadows with his head bowed, and his grief-stricken eyes taking in the tragedy before him. For once in his life, Sheen was dead serious as he stood beside Carl, frozen to the spot, mute with shock…too horrified to even believe his eyes.

That was why Jimmy still half-believed this was a dream. It was unreal. This hideous planet, drenched in darkness and riddled with mangled-looking plant life and steamy, disgusting marshes, had to be something that had sprung from his nightmares. And surely those alien creatures with the malicious eyes and dark, globular bodies were something he'd created in his own mind after all the encounters he'd had with otherworldly life.

But something in Cindy's eyes shattered the illusion every time he dared to look at her. He'd never seen her like this: it was as if the life had been sucked out of her, with her eyes wild and miserable, her face white. It made everything far too real to him, especially that pain beyond anything he'd ever felt before. It was like having his heart ripped out of him. The emotion registered first while his benumbed mind still struggled to comprehend what had happened. Even the limp form that Cindy knelt over as she held it up gently didn't seem to help him grasp the truth.

Libby was dead. Killed by his own stupidity. Cindy hated him, and once Sheen's denial wore off, he'd hate him too. The whole city of Retroville would… But what did that matter? Jimmy already hated himself.

He hadn't expected that his adventure would twist itself into something so terrible, but then, when had he ever expected that? When had he ever actually weighed the pros and cons before heading off into the far reaches of space? Why hadn't he considered the fact that not only his life could be in danger, but also the lives of his friends? Overconfident in his own abilities and intellect, he'd been certain that he'd be able to negotiate peace with these alien beings who'd been bent on destroying Earth. Why had Jimmy always relied on his own brain…why hadn't he listened to all of Cindy's and Libby's advice and words of caution? Now Libby was gone, never to speak again.

Jimmy hadn't spoken a word since his little act of diplomacy had gone awry and they'd lost Libby. Cindy had screamed at him, the aliens had laughed, Sheen and Carl had cried out in horror and disbelief; but Jimmy couldn't say anything. Images just kept replaying themselves in his mind, and the haunting sight of Cindy staring down at her friend tearlessly as she cradled her in her arms wouldn't go away. Neither would the memory of the way she looked up at him with that lost expression in her eyes. And Cindy's words replayed like a broken record in his brain: devastating echoes that kept tormenting him with the awful truth.

Your fault!

It was his fault. He'd been the idiot to count on his own powers and ignore what his friends had told him. He'd been the one to overestimate himself while underestimating them, and look what had happened because of it. Because of him.

Suddenly, Cindy's voice jerked him from his daze. "You have to go back!" she shouted at him, clinging to her lifeless friend and ignoring the triumphant aliens surrounding them. It didn't really seem to matter if they killed them now, too. Nothing really seemed to matter anymore. "You have to stop this from happening!"

Jimmy spoke for the first time, the words somehow spilling out of his tight throat. "I can't!"

"You're a GENIUS!" Cindy practically shrieked. "Figure out how to get away from these creeps, go home and use your inventions to go back in time, and stop this from happening!" She couldn't keep the tears from slipping down her cheeks now.

Jimmy Neutron had made a lot of mistakes in his life. But he wasn't about to make the one mistake that had always plagued him again. Never.

He lifted his gaze to the girl across from him, calming her a little with the steady confidence in his voice. "Cindy," he said, watching the aliens creeping closer out of the corner of his eye, "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm going to save Libby, but I need your help." He glanced at Sheen and Carl. "All of you guys' help."

Slowly, a smile formed on Cindy Vortex's face, even through the tears. She held her best friend tightly in her arms as hope poured back into her, and as he watched her, the weight seemed to lift off of Jimmy just a little. He turned to his friends, and their reactions were encouraging too. New courage seemed to rise in Sheen at the thought of battling for his girlfriend, and Jimmy could see that even Carl's loyalty was stronger than his fears.

Jimmy knew that he could count on his friends to give him the support he needed and the help his brainpower alone never offered. It would be easy to escape these aliens and rescue Libby if they each gave their all. They'd accomplished harder tasks than this before, when they'd combined their talents. Nothing was going to stop them from bringing their friend back.

And so, once more, four of the kids that had faced every kind of danger, that had conquered all sorts of villainy, that wouldn't let even death stop them, faced the aliens and prepared for another victory. Together.

Thanks so much for reading! ) Please tell me what you think. I haven't completely thrown out the idea of turning this into a full-length fic someday, but I think I prefer it as a oneshot.